{creative space}

Hello again friends!!

After a fun-filled weekend of studying, getting my piggies did, replacing a flat tire, attending a lake front wedding, watching Snow White and the Huntsman, studying some more, and taking a 4 hour exam... I am exhausted. I'm sad that I didn't find time to scrap.  Believe me I sat down at my table, YEARNING to scrap, but I absolutely had to study for this exam.  It was the first one of the semester for me, so I was nervous (literally sweating profusely) and anxious (nearly pulling out my hair), but all in all it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.  It only took me 2 hours to finish the test complete with multiple choice and three essay questions. Now I just hope that I did well.

So I don't have any new scrapbook layouts to share with you today, but I do have pictures of my scrapbook room in its current state.  I would like to throw some paint on those walls: Lowe's Utterly Violet and hang up some of my layouts.  I am planning on purchasing some more Display Dynamics (lipless this time), a 2x2 expidit unit, a tool carousel, and a Clip It Up or knock off. AND a new chair would be nice.

Take a look...

This is my room. I hate the yellow.

Would you believe I got this great table at Goodwill for $20?

Yes, yes I did.

I love wire shelving units. This is where my cameo and cuttlebug live. I currently keep my patterned paper in these Iris containers (2) separated by manufacturer. The scrapfolio is what I store my kits in, and the other Iris containers contain finished layouts and 'homework' for my preschooler. The basket contains my cutting mats and scraps.

My 4x4 Ikea Expidit shelf. Love it. I use Iris photo boxes and store various embellishments in locker baskets, jars, bowls, a colander, a hen (yes, I said that), and a rubbermaid container. I keep all my stickers in the rubbermaid container, punches in 1 locker basket, and chipboard/mini albums in the blue basket. My cardstock is separated by neutrasl and color families in the display dyanamics.

Magazine and inspiration folder is stored here as well as my finished scrapbooks. My inspiration books are stacked under the colander.

A view from my table. Little man in his swing - he loves to nap here on the weekends :)

The dresser across the room houses tools to keep away from little hands, stamps, fabric, cards, etc. Also I finally have a big TV in my room with plenty of chick flicks!

Another view from my table. I love having some little embellies at my fingertips.

Ikea tiered plates - I keep mists and stickles on top, twine in the middle, and leftovers from kits at the bottom.

Washi tape jar - I wash all my jars after using them in the kitchen and they generally find a place in my scrap room or my husband's art studio.

Vintage Pyrex bowl - I think I paid $5 on this small bowl at a flea market. It was an impulse buy, but I love it. I keep all my cat eyes here on the tape for distressing and when I want to STAMP, which I rarely do.

And that is my room! I hope that you thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I enjoyed putting it together, and I enjoy getting crafty in this space on the regular!

Do you have a craft space? I  would love to see it. Also, share your organization tips and techniques... I'm always looking for ways to reorganize. That's half the fun of having a scrap room!

With Love,

Gabrielle Watson

{watson & watson} image heavy post

I don't that I've shared our most recent family portraits.  I think I'll do that today.

These pictures were taken by the very talented Kristin Smith, who is my lovely cousin! She is such a doll, and is currently a freshman at OU; go sooners, right?  Well even if you are not a football fan (like me), I sure hope that you are a fan of some of the most beautiful pictures captures of my sweet little family!

With Love,
Gabrielle Watson

{citrus twist kit layouts}

I received a lot of papers with my Citrus Twist Kits subscription for August.  The colors were warm oranges and yellows infused with some pink and blue hues. 

When I first opened my kit, I was overwhelmed with excitement.  I opened the patterned paper add on, and there were such great versatile designs.  Then I meandered over to the kit, and boy was I surprised!! I looked at the papers first (I'm a paper girl, sorry). Then I looked at all the cutie embellishments.  I got colored floss, 2 sets of stamps, ribbon, Mister Huey's, Prima chalk ink, AC tabs, vintage finds, washi tape, library card/pocket and cute exclusive journaling cards.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was working off the sunday sketch from Citrus Twist Kits.  I am the queen of sketch stretching, or at least I think I am. I can stretch a single page to a double, and I can take a double and squeeze it down to a single page (however, I do this least often).

Well without further ado, here are the two layouts that I created over the weekend featuring my Citrus Twist Kit "Tropical Heat"!

The first one is the page that I stretched from the sketch that I posted yesterday, and the second is a follow up that will goes with it.

 

Thanks for taking a look today, and feel free to stop by Citrus Twist Kits to see their current kit "Life's Little Details."

 

With Love,

Gabrielle Watson

 

P.S. I still have TONS of paper and embellies left over from my kit, so you'll be seeing more layouts in the future from "Tropical Heat"

{scrappy weekend}

Despite the fact that I have an exam coming up, I took 12 hours out of my busy weekend to scrapbook with some locals gals!!

I had such a fun time.  I didn't get as many layouts completed as I had hoped, but I was also taking care of little Sawyer while making beautiful layouts and entertaining new friends.

As mentioned in last week's post, I started a crop group in Denton, TX that meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month.  Well we had our first 'meet up' and it was amazing.  All the seats were filled, everyone was so insightful, and I felt so motivated by seeing my new friends creating beautiful mini-albums, printing pictures from their iPhones, and making lovely pages for their family and friends.

I finished 3 layouts, using two different kits, the September kit from Gossamer Blue, and the August kit from Citrus Twist Kits!! This is my first month to receive and use kits from these two lovely companies, but I feel so invited and welcomed by them! Their kits are SO, so, so MY STYLE. They are a fantastic mix of colors, materials, and brands! <------- SERIOUSLY!

7 Reasons I love Citrus Twist Kits:
1. LOTS of patterned paper and brand mixing with coordinating cardstock
2. Great set of embellishments this is great because it is often stuff I wouldn't ordinarily buy for myself
3. Exclusive goodies the August kit came with exclusive journal/note cards, stamps, and canvas flowers
4. Chalk Inkers and Mister Huey's I never buy these products on my own, but I love to use them
5. The price is right! It truly is such a bargain for all that you are getting in a kit
6. Options for add ons
7. Design team layouts for inspiration

7 Reasons I love Gossamber Blue:
1. Great patterned paper and brand mixing with coordinating cardstock I love brand mixing, and it's so much easier when someone does it for you
2. Lovely embellishments like one big and one small alphabet stickers/thickers
3. Fancy digital files with each kit for your Silhouette machine
4. The price is right! It is a great deal for what you are getting
5. Options for add ons
6. Lookbook I seriously love lookbooks; not only are they snazzy but they are inspiring and little sneaky peeks of what's in store for next month
7. Super design team inspiration

I uploaded the pictures onto my computer, and I was trying to share them online before going to bed last night, but something didn't quite work, and I can't see them in my albums for some reason, oops!

I'll be posting pictures tomorrow, so you can see how I used my kits, and how I stretched this single page sketch from Citrus Twist Kits!

Whee, how was your weekend? Did you get creative, spend time with family, study for an exam (like I should've)... did you see a movie maybe?  My husband bought Cabin in the Woods, and can you say, freaky? Ick. Not my kind of movie FO SHO :)

Tonight: I have plans with my textbooks, flash cards, babies, and a can of soda to help keep the midnight oil burning! I think I'll scrap for a minute or two (during study breaks of course). I just gotta keep sane despite the INSANE life I've chosen for myself! Thanks for reading and have a lovely one folks!

With Love,
Gabrielle Watson

{my, oh my}

Well since you last heard from me... a lot of things have changed.

I have a beautiful 2 month old son named Sawyer James; he was born in the early morning hours of June 18 (2:45 AM), yes that is the day after Father's day this year (best gift ever).  My wonderful 3 year old girl is becoming quite the handful, but she is a loving and helpful big sister.

We are completely settled into our home, and now we are deciding on which plants we plan to rip out first... I'm thinking the terrible bushes in front of the house. Currently they are not serving any purpose, and they are weed ridden and totally misshapen.

I have officially returned back to work as of August 10th.  It wasn't too hard a transition for me as I work 8 minutes from my house, so I visit my little guy during lunch each and every day where I get to have special bonding time while nursing.

While I was on maternity leave, I got scrappy a few times per week. It felt so amazing. 

I am officially in graduate school.  I am taking 6 hours each semester, so I stay busy, but not overwhelmingly so.  I am a first year grad student though, so I'm sure it gets harder each semester. Right now I'm not drowning. I'm just keeping up with my readings, discussions, assignments, and I'm developing my research proposal for my thesis.

And as of late....I've never felt the need before nor thought that I could afford it, but I joined three kit clubs. I have decided to stick with two of them for the long haul, but the other one I'm going to opt out unless there is something that I want to buy, then I will opt in again. I think this will be great for me because it gives me access to papers and materials that I wouldn't ordinarily purchase for myself.  I've been exposed to such great brands already like Fancy Pants, Heidi Swapp, and Prima Marketing.  Although I've known of these brands for some time, I've never actually gone out of my way to purchase their products before, and BOY I was missing out!

I'm currently subbing to Citrus Twist Kits, Gossamer Blue, and Scraptastic Kits.  All three are awesome and are a great deal considering the amount of product that you receive for the total cost (kit + ship).

Overall I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive. I'm still getting scrappy, and even though I'm graduated from UNT, I'm still in school :)

Also, if you are a local of North Texas, I have set up a crop group that meets at my place on the 3rd Saturday of each month.  I'm a social scrapper at heart, so I'm REALLY excited that I have a large enough place where I am comfortably seat 8-10 scrappers at each crop! I will be supplying the bottled water, die-cutting machines (Silhouette Cameo & Cricut Expression), tables, chairs, and space!! I hope that you can join me sometime! You can RSVP for a crop at my house at this website: www.meetup.com/scrap-happens-north-texas/

With Love,
Gabrielle :)

{some of my favorite things}

Well it's been 10 days since my last share...

Sounds like I suffer from an addiction of sorts, doesn't it?  Haha, well I am addicted to papercrafting, so I guess you could call me an addict.

Today I just wanted to share with you folks some of the online scrappy places that I frequent the most when I'm online.  Whether it's for scrappy chit-chat, inspiration, current events, new trends, or just to browse all the loveliness that the internet has to offer all of us scrap-addicts, these are the online sites that I'm most present on, and I'll give you some info on each of why I like them sooooo much!!

1. Two Peas In a Bucket
This is one of my favorite places to frequent online as I love participating in their forums, especially the 'general scrappin' and 'for sale or trade' sections.  I really meet the nicest ladies, and I find out a lot of current events from visiting these boards.  Also, I find lots of great deals on items that I'm interested in buying, and I sell a few things here and there as well!  Two Peas also has a store, which I order from time to time.  They offer free shipping with a minimum purchase of $50 which isn't bad.  Host loads of contests for free stuff, and they always have what I am looking for... I don't shop here too often honestly because I hate paying retail for anything, but if I come across something that I CAN'T find at an LSS or cheaper elsewhere online, then I will consider buying from Two Peas.

2. My Scraps and More
I just found this site from a lady on the forums at Two Peas, and I absolutely love it.  She has a great little online store. Some of her product comes into the store before Two Peas has it.  She had October Afternoon Cakewalk, practically before anyone else did, so I ordered some of course. Shipping is free with a minimum order of $25, and she just had a sale that was 40% your entire cart (including sale items).  I just scored a boatload of stuff for under $30.  I mean a BOATLOAD.  I am so glad that I found her site. I follow them on FB as well, and I like their little blog and challenges.

3. Studio Calico
So I am not what you would call a subber (kit club subscriber) because I am kind of a commitment phobe, but I REALLY love to look and browse the Studio Calico website, especially their galleries from the Design Team and Members.  I love ogling all the new kits they come out with each month, but I just can't take the plunge.  I personally can't bring myself to pay $35 for a kit no matter how exclusive some of the parts may be and then pay nearly $38 some some of the add ons each, per month, plus shipping.  Just seems expensive, but I admire those who do, and when I get lucky from time to time and someone has a kit that they purchased but didn't love... I let them share the love with me for cheaper than retail :) - I typically find these on the For Sale or Trade board on Two Peas.

4. Scrap Freak
To me, this is the original forum and store that started it all for me.  Monica was my LSS when she lived in Highland Village, and now she is located in Colorado.  When I first started scrapping, her store, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and Joann's were the only places that I purchased scrap stuff.  I wish she still had a store online because I would frequent it just to keep her in business.  I am a loyal customer, what can I say?  Well nowadays she hosts the scrapfreak forum online.  I don't log in as much as I would like, but I still lurk, read, pin from the gallery, and attempt to participate from time to time.  I love all the ladies on here and a lot of them are from North Texas.  It's nice to know fellow scrappers around you!

5. Scraptastic Club
This is another kit club online that I lurk.  I particpate on the boards.  It is a new up and coming forum, so there isn't a ton of traffic, but it's getting there.  Jessica the owner, offers 2 kits, 2 add ons, and 1 stamp set each month.  It is a really stellar deal for a kit, but I haven't take the plunge just yet.  Like I said... kind of a commitment phobe.  However, you don't have to be a monthly subscriber to get her kits, and they are still REALLY inexpensive and have great shipping prices, like $5 or $6 I think. CHEAP.  She has all the new product too. I'm really, REALLY looking forward to the next kit and deciding whether or not to buy... we shall see.  I also really love the blog and challenges that she posts. I feel very inspired here.

6. Pinterest
Now unless you live under a rock, then you know that Pinterest is a place of inspiration for EVERYONE and their mom, husband, boyfriend, coworker, and dog...  It is just such an inspiring place. I have tons of boards that I pin to, but the one that I absolutely pin to the most is... Scraplift.  This is my own personal board online where I post layouts, kits, and general inspiration to get to scrapping.  I post new stuff daily on there, and I think I'm currently up to 474 pins. I think I'll break 500 sometime next week. I follow several other scrappy pinboards online, and you can even search them like '2 page layout,' 'studio calico,' etc, but when I find something that I want to lift or getcreative with... I simply Pin It. 

That's all for now, I'm having contractions, but NOT having this baby right now.  I took yesterday off from work thinking that I might go into full on active labor. My surges came every 7 minutes for hours, so I walked to bring them on, and then... nothing.  They were more like 10-15 minutes apart when I finally went to sleep yesterday night.  Did I cry about it... yes?!  I'm not going to lie... I am ready to have this baby out.  I know that next week I'll be singing another tune (unless he's still cookin') but I'm just stinking ready to snuggle my little pup and get back to my skinny-er jeans.

Thanks for checkin' me out!!

With Love,
Gabrielle Watson

{more more more}

Hello all,

Gavin, Harper, Josie, and I are all getting established at our new abode.  It is quite large, and there is plenty to do around the house, but I was able to muster up some time and energy to actually scrap this weekend. 

At my 36 week check up last Tuesday the CNMW announced that I was 2 CM dilated and had a soft cervix.  I thought, yay I'm about to have this baby, but here I am another week further (37 tomorrow), and still no little guy.  That's ok though.

This weekend was so lovely.  Saturday morning my mom and I attended the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, TX.  I love attending this each year because this is where I stock up on cheap embellishments, lovely papers, and other goodies.  My sweet mom was so generous to buy things for me too.  She is such a doting mother.

Some of the goodies that I came home with are a subscription to Scrapbook Trends magazine for $7 per issue and 2 free magazines. An awesomely large fiskars cutting mat, new fiskars rotary blade trimmer, tons of beautiful paper, lots of sweet embellies from Melissa Frances, Basic Grey, Jenni Bowlin, and other off brand companies, some cat eye chalk inks, a new uniball signo pen, a pack of white Bazzill, and some colored Bazzill cardstock.  Not to mention all the freebies that I tried to win, etc.  It was a lot of walking, and I was eager to get home and put my feet up after all that!!

That evening my sweet hubby took me out on the town.  We saw What to Expect When You're Expecting, which was such a fabulous film.  I will be buying this one; it was way too adorable!! I laughed, I cried, and I peed my pants :) yes! LOL it was that funny. If you've seen this movie, you totally know what I talking about.

That evening I got down to business in my scrap space, used my new papers with old papers, and I used my silhouette machine for the 2nd time since I got it back in December.  I am so glad that I did too because it's PURE brilliance!! Best scrappy investment I've made.

Sunday I got scrappy again doing two page layout for my daughter's 3rd birthday.  Harper came home that afternoon from spending the night with my mom (her Lita), and she proceeded to take a nap with her daddy giving me even more quiet, creative time in my little scrap retreat at home.  I love my new scrap room.

Today I am back at work and will be leaving shortly to sign papers on my home. I'm looking forward to be a homeowner once again, and no longer a squatter :) lol. 

And one more thing, to share a few photos from my Little Gentleman themed baby shower for Sawyer James.  My little mister will be here any day now, and I CAN'T wait to meet him and hold him and nurse him, and scrapbook when I'm on maternity leave, lol. I have CRAFTING on the mind all summer long!!

With Love,

Gabrielle Watson